Many of my friends have been preferring to own an S&P index and rent as opposed to owning a house. I find myself in that understanding as well. 

Flimsy US Houses depreciate too much, too fast, and require too much regulatory upkeep (taxes, licenses, reviews, approvals to modify, insurance, not as liquid, etc) to be worth the hassle. 

If this is true for the rest of the US, my main concern is decentralization. It doesn't make much sense to have the entire population owning your most valuable 500 companies as their main asset. It's a lot easier to shape/control 500 companies than millions of houses. 

But maybe I am overthinking this. Is this a valid concern?